Tenter-clip.



J. J. HOEY.

TENTER CUP.

APPLICATION FILED IULY26. 1915.

1,272,663 Patented July 16, 1918.

' o v nsual 'to provide the lower-='jaw' J with'an TED STATES PATENT eJOHN J. HOEY, 0F PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

RENTER-CLIP.

. To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, JOHN J, HonY, a citiobject of my improvement is toprovide means for preventing wear on the jaws of the clam caused by thevibration and chattering o the upper jaw-member against the lower oneafter the cloth has been released therefrom.

The invention is fully described in the following specification,illustrated by the accompanying drawings, inwhichlike letters ofreference designate like parts.

In the drawings} 7 Figure 1 is a plan View of a usual type ofcloth-clamp, which constitutes one link of the conveyer-chain employedfor feeding the cloth'through the machine, and illustrating myimprovement applied thereto;

F ig.'2 is aside elevation of the same showing the j aw-membersin'engagement with the cloth; i

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the upper jaw withheld from engagementwith the lower one throughthe' operation of my new device. 1 H

7 Referring to the drawings, I have here illustrated a type ofcloth-clamp C which is now well knownand"generally'used in the art,- butit is to be understood that my improvement-is equally well adapted toother forms of clamps and can be applied thereto with but slightmodification in its structure.

The clamp C here shown comprises the main frame c'formed with a baseportion '6 having a lower, projecting jaw-member J and two overhangingarms a, a. Extending through the end of the arms a, a is a shaftorpin'pon which ispivotedthe upper jaw-J. This is made in theform of agatelike member having two outer bearings i mounted on the ends of thepin Sp, at the outside of the arms a; a, and a central bearing 3"positioned" .betweenthetwoarms. The depending bladeportion j of the jawJis formed somewhat like a hoe and hasa relatively sharp,;clothholdingedge. 3'?" which 'normally bears against the'uppersurfaceiof-thelower-jaw J It is Specification of Letters Patent.

I Patented July 1c, 1918.

Application filed July 26, 1915. Serial No. 41,817.

upper face-plate j which, as here illustrated,

is bent down over the front edge of the jaw and" fastened thereto by anysuitable means, not here shown. The selvage of the cloth to rests on theplate j? and the lower edge of the jaw J impinges thereupon to bind itin the clamp, see Fig. 2. The jaw J hangs at an angle to theperpendicular when its lower edge is hearing on the cloth aandconsequently the pull of the fabric serves to effect a firm bite betweenthe two j aw-members to grip the cloth between them in the usual mannerfamiliar to those versed in the art.

A feeler-device or controller 03 is pivoted on a leg j of the upper jawJ and serves as a means for determining the point of engagement of thejaw J with the cloth relatively to the edge of the latter. As theoperation of this device is well known, however, aid as it forms no partof the present invention, it will not be further described.

Extending upwardly from the central bearing j of the jaw J is areleasing-lever or arm j. The purpose of this is to provide a means fortilting the jaw J to allow the cloth to enter between it and the lowerjaw J and also to provide for releasing the upper jaw from engagementwith the cloth to allow it to be freed from the clamp. The) arm j isoperated upon by a member called the opener fixedly mounted at each endof the rails in proper position to wipe across its rearmost side whichis rounded off at jT, see Fig. 1. At either side of the mainframe 0 areears 0, 0, etc., which serve as a connecting-means for linking theclamps together. As before explained, each clamp constitutes a link inthe endless conveyorchain, one of which traverses each side-rail of thetentering-framc or machine. The

side-rails carry sprocket-wheels at both ends direction on the inside ofthe rails and upon reaching the end-'ofjthe frame release the cloth andtravel back in the opposite direction" to again engage with anotherlength of fthe material. In this way the fabric is kept continuously inmotion through the ma chine andas it passes from one end' of the frameto the other it is stretchedacross its breadth, smoothed out andotherwise treated to imp'artthe desired finish toits surface. It isusual in machines of this class to proor reciprocating movement oftheside-rails so that the cloth is stretched with a crisscross jerkingaction which tends to smooth out the wrinkles and open up the texture.

This movement of the side-rails causes more or less thumping andpounding in the va? rious parts of the machine and sets up considerablevibration in the cloth-clamps as they 'passalong theoutsideof the railsafter beinglfreedfrom the fabric. Afterthe upper jaw J hasbeenoncetilted backtorelease the cloth it swings down again under theactionof gravity until .its lower edge meets the upper face of the-plate 3'Now, .as the clamp jumps. and chatters, A due to :the vibration of the;side-rails, this sets upzaivibration ofrthe'j aw J and itslower-edgejtwill chat-v terupand downgagainsttheplate j. This unduemovementof the jaw J soon acts to wear. a groove in the plate 9' and,after the latter becomes uneven, :theclamp will not grip the clothproperly. As :the-jaws J must be made relatively stanch and heavy, toresistgthe strain imposed uponthem by strongmaterials, the force ofitslower edge striking against the plate j is considerable and'thesurfaceot the plate will beeome very badly worn within a comparativelyshort time. After the platehas become worn and grooved to such :anextent that it does not hold the cloth firmly it must either befileddown to a smooth surfaeeorelse replaced bya new one. Each conveyer-chainis'gener-ally composed of several hundred links or clamps and these mustbetakenapart inorder to repair them. It :will therefore be seen that itis a very consiiderabletask to re place and refit the jaw-plates onthechains of onemachine and calls for the expenditure of a great deal oftin1e and.--money. It is the purpose ofthe present invention to entirelyobviate this unnecessary wear of the upperjaw upon the lower one and Iaccom- .plish this resultin-the following manner:

' Referring to Fig. 3, my improvement consists essentially in providinga detent-means to'holcl themovable jaw "J inits raised position after ithas been released from the cloth. As here shownI employ a leverjD whichengages suitabledetents on ,theijaw after the latter hasbeen opened. Thelever D is preferablyaformed of sheet+metal with two ears cl, d bentdownwardly at right- .angles tojits main ,p or tion and j adapted toreceive thepivot ins d (Z which aredriven into the sides of tie-armsa,a. T herear end i of theelever JD carries a downwardly-extending pin ,clwhich is engaged 1 by the; end of a coiled-spring :The opposite end-10fthe spr ng-E bears against a portion I) t of -.the;base1-.b;.of, theclamp and is; held ign position'by a i-pi-n e dr iven-;ii;1;to.tl1e;base.-; Tho'i e f erdpart of h lever Di e zbifiircated form havingtwo legs (1 d which straddle the arm j of the jaw J. The ends of thelegs d 'are-preferablybent or curved over in .thearcuate portions clhaving their under, concave faces adapted to engage the rounded edgesofthe lugs j j which projeetfrom bothsideso'f the arm j. With the' jaw Jin .rltS closed position, as illustrated in Fig. 2,

the legs 03 rest on the upper faces of the lugs j and haveatendencytoanaintain'fthe jaw J. from undue .movement .While itslower.edgeisibearing onthe cloth w; When the jaw J :is tilted intothejposition illustratedin 'Eig."3, the:ends of the legs dtride over theupper faces-.ofthe lugs {fiend engage =tl1e sides :thereof .to 'h01d theij aw in its raised position. It will be noted that :the

endofeach of-the legsd is roundediofia the two.si.de-rails of thetenteringrmaehine with their jaws J, J grippingythe.selvage of the cloth$:{ts.lllll.-Stl'tt6d:l11 Fig. 2. As each clamp reaches the. endof therail thea m. j ofiitsnp er, jaw J is engaged by the fixed: opener and"the jaw ;=is raised or Opened to :the'position illustrated .in Fig. :3to release; the cloth. During 'the:etiltirigg, of thezja'w J,as:,abovei.deseribed, the. ends of the legs d of the detent-lever D rideacross the upper -edges 10f the lugs 5]? ;on the 5 arm 7'. and thecactiongoflthe .springgE. on the opposite. end. of :said; levercauses-them to;.slide down into engagement with the sides of the lugs.This lengagementfacts ;to {retain thej aw: J in: itsretraeted position,as illustrated inllig. z3,.=and preventsiitsl blade-portion j fromdroppingbackinto position-to bear. on the jaw J. .lmth-isway r thersharpedge .j of the ajawi-J is :prevented g'fI'OIl'l jumping up and-down.andrvibrating agains the plate 7", ;and consequently, all unnecessary-.wear. on; the surface; of the; plate is v0b- .viatecl. Theclamps, asathey; become a'freed from the. eloth at}. one end of the machine,

to.- raise; the-ends of its legs- {0Z f-rom the lugs '7 'l.,hro.ughthlsaactlendthe jaw sJaisgre- =leased. to allow ititoaswing down into,ipQSltiOm iiOe l'gage; withtheieloth e -as ShdWI zi m 7 .travel aalongthe nutside J oft-he i rails :to the 'OpDOSItG end where they lturn on 2the chain- Fig. 2, and this engagement is efiected as soon as the clampcomes around into place on the inside of the rail. The jaw J now remainsin this position until the clamp reaches the opposite end of the machinewhen it is again releasedby the opener.

It will be seen that my improvement provides a simple and efiectivemeans for restraining the upper, movable jaw of the clamp from unduevibration, after it has been released from the cloth, and for holdingits edge out of engagement with the lower-j aw of the clamp so that allunnecessary wear on these parts is eliminated.- For this reason both thejaw J itself and the lower face-plate j are rendered more durable andhence a considerable saving is made in the cost of repairs. Besidesthis, the usual opener, provided for opening the jaw before the clampcomes into engagement with the cloth, can be dispensed with and,therefore, about half the wear on the opener-arm j is eliminated. It isalso called to attention that my new detent-means can be applied toclamps already in use at a very slight expense; and when so applied willgreatly increase the durability of the parts thereof.

Various modifications might be made in the form and structure of my newdevice without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention;therefore, without limiting myself to the exact construction shown anddescribed, what I claim is 1. In a cloth-clamp for tenterin or likemachines, the combination with the main frame thereof having a baseproviding a lower fixed jaw and arms overhangingthe top of said base, ofan upper movable jaw pivoted to the arms on the frame to adapt its lowerend to swing into engagement with the fixed jaw, detent-lugs projectingvertically upwardly from the pivot of the movable jaw, a detent-leverpivoted on the top of the arms of the frame and formed with curved endsadapted to normally ride 011 the ends of the lugs 0n the movable jaw,and a spring to operate the detent-lever when the movable jaw is swunginto open position to cause the ends of the lever to engage the sides ofthe lugs to hold the jaw from closing.

2. In a cloth-clamp for tentering-machines, the combination with a mainframe having a relatively flat base forming a lower jaw and armsoverhanging the top of the base, of a rod extending through bearings inthe arms on the frame, an upper movable jaw pivoted on said rod andformed with its depending portion adapted to engage with the lower jawof the frame, detent-lugs having rounded ends extending upwardly fromthe pivot of the movable jaw, a detent-lever having ears pivoted to thesides of the arms on the frame and legs extending longitudinally of saidarms to bear against the lugs on the movable jaw, and a spring actingagainst the rear end of the detent-lever to cause its forward end toengage the sides of the lugs on the movable jaw when the latter isrocked to swing its lower end away from the fixed jaw.

3. In a cloth-clamp for tentering-machines, the combination with a framehaving a relatively flat base forming a lower fixed jaw and armsoverhanging said base, of a movable j aw-member having hubs pivoted tothe arms on the frame to adapt its lower edge to cooperate with thefixed jaw on the frame and also formed with an arm extending upwardlybetween the frame-arms, verticallyextending lugs on the sides of thecentral arm of the lower jaw, a relatively flat detent-lever having earspivoted to the sides of the arms on the frame and formed with two legsstraddling the central arm on the movable jaw with their ends adapted tobear against the upper ends of the lugs thereon, and a spring operatingon the opposite end of said lever to cause the arms to ride down againstthe sides of the lugs when the movable jaw is tilted to withdraw itslower end from engagement with the fixed jaw.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN J. HOEY.

Witnesses:

HERBERT K. ALLARD, GEORGE A. WHITE, Jr.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. V

